Blue Line Station
Fansided

A great effort without a great result

By Steve Paulus

The New York Rangers saluting the crowd at Madison Square Garden (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The New York Rangers saluting the crowd at Madison Square Garden (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 14: The New York Rangers open their first home game against the Dallas Stars by saluting the crowd at Madison Square Garden on October 14, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 14: The New York Rangers open their first home game against the Dallas Stars by saluting the crowd at Madison Square Garden on October 14, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The New York Rangers came away with a point in their home opener, but they should have had more. After a lousy first period, the Blueshirts came alive and dominated  the Dallas Stars for almost two periods, but could never get the lead and then lost in overtime.  The team has to be disappointed with the result, but encouraged by the effort.

As badly as they played in the first period, the didn’t allow a Stars goal  until rookie Jacob Peterson scored with only 35 seconds left after Nils Lundkvist got tangled up and let him break in for the goal.

Early in the second period, the Rangers got in penalty trouble when Ryan Reaves took a roughing penalty and Radek Faksa scored off a shot by Miro Heiskanen.  It followed a lost faceoff and the Rangers looked lost.  They had some golden opportunities to score,but Braden Holtby was excellent and robbed Ryan Strome twice including one save on a point blank shot, just 20 seconds after Dallas had scored.  Watch this save.

It was a fabulous save by Holtby and things looked grim, but  Adam Fox would take over. Two and a half minutes later, he scored and started the comeback.

From that point on the Rangers were simply dominant and tied the score six minutes later on a Chris Kreider deflection.  The Garden was rocking and the Rangers were relentless.

Still, despite two power plays and an injury to Holtby that forced Anton Khudobin into the game cold, the Rangers could not score and the game went to overtime.

In the OT, Artemi Panarin tried to force a rush through two Stars and they stripped him of the puck and sent Miro Heiskanen on a breakaway and he put the puck over Shesterkin’s shoulder.

Here’s a five minute video recap of the game.

When it comes to this Rangers team, when they follow Gallant’s mantra and play a simple game they do better. They get in trouble when they try to make fancy passes in the neutral zone that end up as turnovers.

While coming back from a 0-2 deficit was admirable, as Chris Kreider said after the game, “You need to play a full 60 to win games in this league.”

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